The chairman of the pre-vetting commission admits that the initial time limit set for the assessment of candidates for the posts of member of the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM) and of the Superior Council of Prosecutors (SCP) was passed. According to the Dutch jurist Herman von Hebel, the delay is due to the fact that the commission members lay emphasis on quality, not on speed. He admitted that the rules for passing the assessment are harsh, but noted that the strictness of the contest is necessary for cleaning the judicial system and building the people’s confidence in justice, IPN reports.
The pre-vetting commission started work in April 2022. During almost a year, it assessed only the candidates for the post of SCM member from among judges. The commission’s chairman admitted that the assessment process has lasted longer than society expected, but noted that they focus on quality and correctness, not on speed.
“From the very first day, it was important for us to ensure a correct process, to make sure that all the candidates are treated correspondingly. Burt this necessitates an enormous volume of information, analyses, information that often is not available in English. That’s why a series of important documents were translated. We started from zero last April and everything was new. What we have now that we work with candidates who will be voted in by Parliament goes much faster. Our work is meticulous. We dig deep. Our goal is to see which of the candidates can be indeed poormouthed. We want to do everything right, one time, as this process cannot be repeated in 4-5 years. For us, the quality is more important than the speed,” Herman von Hebel stated in the program “Shadow Cabinet” on JurnalTV channel.
Out of 28 candidates for the post of SCM member, only five passed the assessment of the pre-vetting commission. The commission’s chairman admits that the selection process is very rigorous and only candidates with immaculate reputation and financial integrity are admitted.
“We are analyzing ethical and financial aspects. One cannot be ethically correct only to a particular extent. They must be fully correct. Yes, the contest is rigorous, but this is our mandate. I come from the Netherlands and realize that the judge needs to be fully upright professionally and financially. We apply these international standards we consider the judges and prosecutors in the Republic of Moldova must respect. This is the only method for building the people’s confidence in the judicial system. I’m from a country in which 87% of the people believe in the justice sector. Yes, I admit that we are tough, but we believe that we need to be very strict and need to have fully upright persons,” stated the head of the pre-vetting commission.
The pre-vetting commission consists of six members named by Parliament, three of whom were recommended by the international development partners that offer assistance to the Republic of Moldova. The pre-vetting commission members are: Herman von Hebel (the Netherlands), Victoria Henley (the U.S.) Nadejda Hriptievschi (the Republic of Moldova), Vitalie Miron (Moldova), Tatiana Răducanu (Moldova) and Nona Tsotoria (Georgia).
